Late mayor, Solomon Tawengwa’s family fight over estate

Two of the late former Harare Mayor Solomon Tawengwa sons, Masimba and Owen Tafadzwa have taken seven other family members to court challenging their removal from directorship of Solta Trading company which owns Machipisa Service Station in the capital.

BY CHARLES LAITON

In his affidavit filed at the High Court Masimba said he came to know that he had been removed from directorship of Solta Trading when a firm called Pickglow Trading issued summons against Solta Trading and Cedar Petroleum which is renting the service station.

Masimba said when he instructed his lawyers to enter an appearance to defend on behalf of Solta Trading he was advised he had no mandate to act as such since he had been removed from directorship by his step-mother Victoria Mavis Tawengwa and her children.

“This is a court application on the grounds that the first to fourth respondent’s (Solta Trading, Shaka Hills Farm, Solta Import and Export and Solta Medical and Veterinary Company) affairs have been conducted in a manner which is oppressive on unfairly prejudicial to the interest of the applicants or that any actual or proposed act or omission of the company, including an act or omission on its behalf, is or would be so oppressive or prejudicial,” Masimba said.

“As a result, the applicants (Masimba and Owen) are seeking for an order that they be restored as directors of the first respondent (Solta Trading) and that the natural respondents (Victoria Mavis and her children) seize to unlawfully dispose of the immovable assets that belong to the first respondents and its subsidiaries.”

According to Masimba, sometime in 2004 before his death, Tawengwa saw wisdom of dividing the shareholding of his companies amongst his wives and all his children.

This he said, resulted in share certificates of the firms being issued on January 1, 2005 to all the beneficiaries and subsequently, all the beneficiaries were registered as directors of the four companies.

“However, of late fifth to twelfth respondents (Victoria Mavis and her children) have become hostile and have been side-lining me and the second applicant from the operations of the fourth respondent” Masimba said.

“All the natural parties are related in that second applicant and I are sons of the late Solomon Tawengwa from different mothers, whereas sixth to eleventh respondents are the deceased’s children from his marriage with fifth respondent (Victoria Mavis) whilst the twelfth respondent is also the deceased’s son from another relationship.”

Masimba said in terms of section 175 of the companies Act directors can only be removed through a special resolution in terms of sections 132 and 133 of the Act.

“This was never done as it would follow that the removal of the second applicant and myself as directors was unlawful.”